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Fatal Fury was SNK's first ever fighting game for the Neo Geo, and is a very important title in SNK's library. It was released a short time after Street Fighter II initially hit the arcades, and while some people still refer to the game as a rip off of SF, it was actually in development at the same time.

The tournament featured in this game is actually the "King of Fighters Tournament"... sound familiar? It is being held by Geese Howard, and Terry/Andy, along with Joe, enter it to gain revenge on Geese for killing Terry and Andy's father, Jeff Bogard. I'd go into more detail but the majority of you should know all of it by now...

Well this game is a true classic I think. I know it looks dated now and in comparison with SFII World Warriors it's not the best, but it laid the foundations for everything since then, and it's still a damn enjoyable game. I could say a lot more but I will wait until I've had the chance to play some more tomorrow

Until someone mentioned this in chat, I didn't even realise that this was the first fighting game we had covered as a game of the week...

Now, finally a game I can talk about. I remember my mate having the port on the Megadrive and I would be playing it constantly. This was also the first time I got to know Geese Howard and I thought he was a badass from day one. The soundrtack is still dope even by today's standards imo. This was the first game that let you jump between planes and also allow for 2 on 1 gameplay. I had to get this for my Neo. A true classic, though it looks and feels dated its a retrogamers wet dream. Geese is still a cheap bastard though though he is just too cool. Also I love the story, the plot is similar to a lot of dodgy martial arts films from the late 80's/early 90's. This game will always be a keeper in my eyes.
Edited by tony starks on 24. February 2008 23:48

Fatal Fury is a classic and I love this game. It's one of only two Neo Geo games I ever got a chance to play in the arcades. Fatal Fury might seem really dated now but you can still have a lot of fun with this game. The character designs are all great including Geese of course, there are some nice backgrounds especially the Dream Amusement Park and the music is excellent especially Geese's theme. It's pretty cool that there is some singing in the Pao Pao cafe stage as well.

The 2 player vs Cpu mode is a very original idea and it's great fun ganging up on the Cpu opponent. To be honest the Cpu opponents can be very stupid at times. They tend to fall for the same attacks over and over again. For example when you are fighting as Andy Bogard you just have to knock the opponent to the ground once and hit him with a Zaneiken every time they try to stand up. Michael Max and Hwa Jai are particularly dumb Cpu opponents.

The system of fighting on two planes is a great idea. I know some people have never been keen on this plane system throughout the Fatal Fury series but I think it adds another dimension to the gameplay. I don't know about other people but I don't tend to bother with the bonus rounds because you have to button bash so fast that you end up with sore fingers.

Like Tony Starks I also played this to death on the Sega Genesis/Megadrive before I bought it on Neo Geo. I still think that was a great port and much better than the Snes version.

I can understand if people didn't get a chance to play this 'back in the day' that coming to it now the game might seem a bit lacking but it's an inexpensive game to buy and you'll be owning a piece of Snk history so I would highly recommend grabbing a copy if you haven't already.
Edited by merlin on 25. February 2008 15:10

Pure classic even if you could only pick from 3 characters. This was not a rip-off street fighter. I find that it did have original characters and the Plane system was brilliant and greatly improved upon in its sequels

boogiepop wrote:
Oops! I lied - the guy in that video didn't one credit it. Not that it really matters. I'm gonna have to put some time in with this baby tonight and tomorrow.

That video is hilarious The last part of the video cracks me up. Geese was just ridiculously cheap in that game. I could never 1cc that game because of him.
Edited by tony starks on 25. February 2008 22:21

It's dated and limited, but really important. I do like the game, it set the template for what was to come (and it is way better than the first World Heroes and Art Of Fighting games) but let's face it the likes of Mark Of The Wolves and Real Bout Special are way beyond Fatal fury 1.

One of SNK's true classics and of course one of the most important games of SNK because it spawned 2 very popular series (KOF and FF).
It looks a bit dated nowadays, but to be honest I still think it looks great (also if you compare it to other fighting games of the time). One of the biggest advantages of Garou Densetsu when compared to other fighting games that came after it and Street Fighter, is that it looks in no way like Street Fighter. Most fighting games have characters that are basically ripped off from Street Fighter, but not Garou Densetsu...it has a completely original cast of characters and that's because it's not a Street Fighter clone as many people would think when watching the game for the first time. I also love the 2-plane fighting system as it's making the game a bit more strategic. The music is also still very good, but I do think that the voice actors of later Fatal Fury games are much better and fit the characters better (I hate how Terry sound in this game). The controls feel a bit sluggish but that doesn't get in the way too much. Finally this has the cheapest incarnation of Geese ever, in later games he became a bit less cheap.
I like the other Garou Densetsu games better (especially Real Bout Garou Densetsu 2), but this one is a great start of the series.
Come on SNK, make another (2D) Garou Densetsu game!!!

Yes I've got to agree with you there Priest. The Japanese insert looks far better in my opinion. My first copy of Fatal Fury was the US version but I've now replaced it with a Japanese copy. I really prefer Japanese inserts to be honest.

I played Fatal Fury a short while ago and had a great time. It's been quite a while since I've played it. Playing as Andy Bogard on 'Normal' difficulty setting I got to Geese Howard without losing a single round. I was starting to think to myself that I'm pretty good at this when all of a sudden Geese started to kick my butt. I was on my very last credit with each of us having won one round and both our lifebars with only a tiny fraction left when somehow I managed to get one last flying kick on him and emerge victorious.

I do find it can sometimes be a little bit tricky pulling of some of the special moves in Fatal Fury. Being used to later fighting games I tend to perform the joystick movement for the specials a bit too quickly sometimes. Performing specials in Fatal Fury 2 is far easier. By the way if you want a real challenge in this game try fighting Geese on Hard setting with Joe Higashi because you will be in for a tough battle.

By the time of release of Fatal fury it became painfully obvious that us Europeans were cursed with really ugly looking covers, While the japanese ones often were "masterpieces"

Thanks...wouldn't have noticed it if you didn't congratulate me with it though.
I have to agree that the USA and Euro covers of Fatal Fury has one of the most horrible covers for Neo Geo games...I really don't get it why they changed it...maybe it was too foreign looking in those times...I think. Nowadays I prefer Japanese covers and versions of games over American and European versions because of the artwork on both the covers and in the booklets...which for some systems like the Megadrive are in color with great artwork for Japanese versions and in black and white with alternate (sometimes inferior) artwork for the European release. Don't forget that the games themselves also sometimes differ when it comes to graphics, for example more gore or sexually tinted stuff. One thing I really hate is if they change names which didn't happen in this Garou Densetsu but they did change names in Garou Mark of the Wolves...especially Capcom seems to be eager in changing character names for USA and European releases in their fighting games (the Vampire series and of course Street Fighter).
Ah well, enough of this...let's get back to GOTW since I can go on for hours talking about censorship and stupid changes in videogames and movies.

Without straying too far off topic, how about the abomination below for an example of whacked out western cover art, this time for Psycho Soldier on the Spectrum/C64/CPC... truly one of the worst I have ever seen, I mean, who on Earth designed that, and who approved it? One thigh is bigger than two of Chun Li's!

Playing some FF tonight again, bringing back a lot of memories. I agree that the soundtrack is still great, for the era it was released on the Neo Geo it's especially impressive and quite varied.

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